Intercessor:  Dearest Lord, we pray for your guidance during a pandemic that is especially threatening to essential workers, the elderly, and the poor. Help us speed the vaccine to the most vulnerable and to positively address the circumstances that make them vulnerable — inadequate housing, unsafe workplaces, and lack of health care.

In Christ we pray.

Dearest Lord, the work of your church is clear — we must care for orphans, widows, and strangers. Help us assist those most in need — hungry children, lonely elderly, and those who have lost work and housing. Be especially with our exhausted health-care workers, whose work is not yet completed.

In Christ we pray.

Dearest Lord, we celebrate our new President Biden, Vice-President Harris, and a new administration. May their work lift and unite us in common purpose for the health and welfare of the people of the United States, the world, and the planet upon which all life depends.

In Christ we pray.

Dearest Lord, on inauguration day, we heard a young poet call us not only to see the light but to be the light. We ask your blessing as we embark on the work of healing our minds, bodies and souls as we emerge from a divisive election season.

In Christ we pray.

Dearest Lord, we are thankful for the miracle that is life on our planet. Help us to care for the sea, the air, the earth, and all creatures that walk, crawl, swim, fly, and grow upon it. Your creation is a blessing; we sing praises to our home, the earth.

In Christ we pray.

Dearest Lord, during the pandemic, we are more vulnerable, not only to sickness but to the anxiety that results from isolation and interrupted lives. Be with those who are sick, lonely, who despair of meeting basic needs. Be with the angry, the fearful, the confused. Be especially with the departed and their loved ones, and with friends and family members we now name (pause), including those on our parish prayer list: 

In Christ we pray.